Jill's House - Celebrating Special Children

I have had the joy of attending McLean Bible Church for almost 6 years, under the teaching of Pastor Lon Solomon.  Lon is a powerful preacher and teacher, and his personal life story is an incredible testament to God's grace!

A huge part of the Solomon family's story is their daughter Jill.  I won't tell the entire story, but you can listen to Lon share about "Being Jill's Father."  Jill is now in her early 20's but requires care 24/7 - her life has presented many challenges for the Solomon family, but her life is beautiful and unique in God's special way.  

Here's a little about Jill's House:

Jill's House provides respite for children with intellectual disabilities and their families in the Greater Washington, DC area. We serve boys and girls, ages six through seventeen, with intellectual disabilities without regard to race, religion, or ethnicity. Our mission is to be a safe haven to which parents can entrust their children, allowing the parents a time of rest. To ensure that parents and caregivers get a real break, typical siblings are welcome to stay at Jill’s House. 

We believe that parents of children with intellectual disabilities need more support. Our hope is that our model will help change the way communities address the needs of families with children with special needs.

Through Jill's House, God has used Jill Solomon and her family to make an incredible impact on so many people!

Where do I come in?  Well, it's very minor BUT on October 26, my sister and I are running the Marine Corps Marathon 10K race with Team Jill's House.  We're running to raise money and support for this amazing place and the special children it serves!

If you're interested in donating, you can do so here on my Jill's House personal fundraising page.  BUT, even if you just check into Jill's House and spread the word, that would be great!  Ty Pennington even loves Jill's House!  He recently awarded them the Ultimate Give Back Challenge - check it out!

God can turn tragedy into something very beautiful.  Jill's House is a beautiful example of that - at the very least, listen to Lon's story and be inspired.  Whatever you're going through, God is sovereign over every detail.

*I should also provide the link to Michelle's fundraising page too!  She will likely beat me in running, so I need to beat her in fundraising!

Morning Glory

I knew it had been a long time since I did an updated blog post, but almost a year!?!?! Where does the time go?  Life was so slow and wonderful when I was a child...there is still much wonderful-ness to my life but...there are also children being murdered with chemical weapons in Syria, Christians in the Coptic community in Egypt are being killed and their churches burned, and musical entertainment in this country has reached a new low.  Sigh, okay, sorry for the downer, but we can't keep our head in the sand!

Being a news, history, and culture junkie, I can't keep from getting sucked into the headlines and analysis.  Unfortunately, that has left little time for my little blog!  Hopefully this should change.  I've already got a really fun post in the works, so stay tuned...

In the meantime, I wanted to share these lovely photos of a beautiful sunrise this morning in the Nation's Capitol...because, well, they're beautiful!  I've seen many late nights at the Capitol, but I'm not often out this early to start the day!  Many years ago, when I was a young pup working in Congress, I gave Capitol tours (history heaven for someone like me!) and would always point out that Lady Freedom atop the Capitol dome faces east - thus, "the sun never sets on freedom."  I always thought that was so poetic and a reminder of how blessed we are in America! (Of course, a recent court ruling saying that Christians can have beliefs but not act on them, does not bode well for freedom and religious liberty...)

But this beauty invokes another kind of poetry that will never fade - from Lamentations chapter 3, verses 22-23: "Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."  That is cause for joy!  No matter what else we might face.

 

 

 

 

Discontentment, Worry, and Thankfulness

Our latest study centered around discontentment, worry/anxiety, and unthankfulness. I have the tendency to let worry eat me up, but I know it is sin. But God is gracious through his santification. This past we were going through an awful experience at work. It seemed devastating to my perspective, but through prayer, and the Holy Spirit constantly reasurring me that everything would be okay, I was able to have a sense of peace - praise God! I certainly had my moments of "freak-out", but overall the Lord reminded my of his promise in Proverbs - that if I trust in the Lord and don't lean on my own understanding, he will direct mine, and my fiance's path :) Below is a great devotional on this, that I just had to repost. Would love your thoughts!
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God’s desire is that our faith grow continuously as we walk with Him. He never intended belief to be a one-time event with a single purpose of ushering us into salvation. The older we get, the greater our trust should become. Yet I’ve met some Christians who have stayed at the same level of faith throughout life.

We need to realize that our willingness to trust the Lord affects every area of our lives—how we feel, what we do, the way He blesses us, and whether our prayers are answered. It all begins with our focus. When you face difficulties or heartbreak, do you notice only the impossibility of the circumstances, or do you see the greatness of our Father? To whose voice are you listening—the skeptical advice of others, the lies of Satan, or the Word of God?

Our focus in turn affects our emotions. Those who choose to believe what God says experience the peace and joy of knowing He has everything under His control. Because they trust Him, fewer situations bother them. But if our minds are filled with doubts, anxiety and fear rush in—then, we’re just not sure if the Lord is going to help us or not. Instead of resting in Christ, we fuss and fume, trying to anticipate all possible outcomes and solve every problem in our own strength.

I don’t think we realize how important faith is to God. He delights in us when we choose to believe Him; He will also move heaven and earth to act on our behalf and answer our prayers. By trusting Him, we’ll discover new excitement and adventure in life and find that He is always faithful.